Larry Page wants you to trust Google, and says the company is working hard to prove why.

In a conversation with Charlie Rose at Wednesday’s TED conference, Google’s CEO spoke about computer security, privacy, the vocal-cord paralysis that has hampered his ability to speak, and Google’s efforts to help devices understand their users.

In what has become a Silicon Valley ritual, Page criticized electronic surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies, based on leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

“We need to know the parameters of what the government is doing and why,” Page said. “The government has done itself a disservice. I’m sad that Google is in the position of protecting you from what the government is doing.”

When it comes to individuals trying to shield themselves from private companies, however, Page said people shouldn’t be “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

Page suggested sharing information with the “right” companies is important for technology to advance, and that Google is among those companies. “We spend a lot of time thinking about these issues,” he said. “The main thing we need to do is provide (users) choice” and show them what data will be used.

Page then mentioned his voice condition. He said Google co-founder Sergey Brin had to convince him to discuss it openly, which connected him with thousands of people with the same condition.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if everyone’s medical records were available anonymously to all medical researchers,” he mused, arguing that such a step could save 100,000 lives a year. The Google CEO added that he worries that the privacy debate will mean online data may be tightly restricted in the same way medical records are now.

As to Google’s technologies, Page showed off advances the company has made in artificial intelligence, in particular a computer program that was able to teach itself what a “cat” is by examining YouTube videos. Purchasing artificial-intelligence company Deep Mind Technologies will help advance that work, Page suggested, pointing to that company’s advanced computer programs that learned to play Atari video games.

He also suggested the company has very big plans for Project Loon, the balloon-powered Internet project run out of its Google X lab: “We think we can build a worldwide mesh of these balloons.”